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AMIRA
Another month later, the king and I were finishing our dinner when the sound of a light patter hitting the leaves came from outside. I raised my head, wondering about the source of the noise.
The king lifted his senties, spreading them wide. Their little heads turned toward the windows, their tongues flicking in and out rapidly.
“Rain!” the king exclaimed with the excitement of a child. “It’s raining, Amira.”
I remembered Kyllen telling me how much gorgonians appreciated the rain. Again, the sensation of him being close came, as if he stood right there, next to me. I knew I wouldn't find Kyllen in the room, even if I searched. He wasn’t in any particular place. He was everywhere.
I pressed my hand to my heart, where I felt his presence the strongest.
“Well.” I smiled at the king. “Let’s go outside, shall we?”
I lowered the footrest on his mechanical chair and tucked his blanket around his legs.
“There you go.” I stepped aside. Not possessing the gorgonian magic, I couldn’t operate the chair, but all the king had to do to move it was to touch it.
He placed his hands flat on the armrests, and the chair rolled along the floor toward the terrace outside the windows. I moved the vines of the frame out of the way, allowing his chair to pass. He rolled it out at the exact moment when the slight pattering of the raindrops turned into a real deluge.
Tipping his head back, he turned his face up to the streams of water rushing from the sky. With his eyes closed, the expression of utter bliss settled on his drought-worn face.
Rain pounded down hard on the king, soaking the blanket in his lap and streaming down his senties. Yet the king seemed absolutely happy.
The lake below quickly filled with people. Using boats, paddle boards, and anything that would float, they paddled from under the branches of the great royal trees into the open area where nothing impeded the rainfall.
Many swam. Treading the water of the lake, they turned their faces up to the water falling from the sky.
“Come, Amira.” The king noticed that I remained inside the room. “Come on out.”
The magic wards would allow me to leave the room. The king would lead me back inside through them after. But I shook my head, leaning against the window frame. “No thank you. I’d rather stay dry.”
“Really?” He looked befuddled. “Humans are funny creatures.”
I laughed. “Why? Because we don’t like getting our clothes wet?”
He gave me a once-over, pausing on my chest. The humidity in the air, combined with the few raindrops that had landed on my front, made the flimsy fabric of my dress cling to my body, highlighting every dip and curve.
He wiggled his eyebrow ridges. “That’s a shame you don’t like wet clothes, because they sure look good on you.”
I smiled, taking his words as a compliment. By now, I knew the king’s attention wouldn’t go any further than the occasional harmless flirting. The appreciation in his gaze was more flattering than alarming.
The downpour had slowed a bit. The king held up his hand, watching the drops fall into his palm that was now also heavily patterned. The raindrops gathered in his palm, then ran down the sides of his hand between the raised ridges and deep grooves of the pattern on his skin.
“You know I’m not proud of everything I’ve done in my life,” the king said suddenly.
Shocked, I raised my eyebrows. That was the first time he’d ever admitted anything of the sort.
For a month now, we’d been exchanging stories of our lives. So far, his accounts hadn’t differed much from what I’d read in the Archives—boastful, flattering articles that showed the king in the best light possible. That seemed to be the trend with the documents in the Archives. Anything critical of the past kings could only be found after their deaths.
From the king’s words now, I gathered, he’d been assessing his life from a slightly different perspective.
Sliding down the frame, I sat on the windowsill and stretched my legs in front of me. “Do you have regrets?”
He nodded without looking at me. “I do. And some are deeper than others.”
“Would righting the wrongs help deal with them?”
He laughed—a loud but humorless sound.
“Those I’ve wronged have long turned to dust, my little human. There’s no one left for me to make amends to. That is if I wanted to make any,” he added with his usual self-assurance.
“You don’t?”
He leaned his head to the side, stretching his neck. “Admitting I have any regrets at all is as far as I’d go in this life, Amira.”
That was already something, I supposed.
He shifted in his chair to face me better. “Tell me something.”
“What would you like to hear?”
“Anything.” He was obviously looking for a distraction from his dark thoughts, of which I guessed there must be many. “What are you reading now?”
“The summary of the most recent Council decisions by Councilor Delahon.”
“Oh, that scoundrel.” The king made a face.
“Is he really a scoundrel? I talk to him often, down in the Archives. He seems nice, honest, and just. If a bit set in his ways.”
The king moved his shoulders, looking uncomfortable.
“He’s all about law and order. Always giving me a hard time when I try to do anything.”
I could see how that would happen. Councilor Delahon was a very knowledgeable man, with high respect for the established order and the kingdom’s laws. And the king… Well, the king preferred to make his own laws, doing whatever he pleased.
Of course, these two would clash a lot.
